Now Leinster must seal deal

IT is easy to see why Leinster played so well in Croke Park on Saturday but a lot more difficult to explain Munster’s Heineken Cup meltdown.

The underdogs went out on the hallowed turf to make a point. Sick and tired of, as Brian O’Driscoll put it, having their “integrity and passion” questioned. One may even wonder, on reflection, why Munster were such red-hot favourites given how superbly Leinster had defended their dangerously narrow lead in the quarter-final against Harlequins. They were never going to be easy to score tries against and as it happened, Munster didn’t manage any.

They proved at the Stoop that Kurt McQuilkin had worked wonders with their commitment to and efficiency in the tackle. Few other sides would have stopped ‘Quins in that pulsating final quarter. Leinster did so with a combination of courage and skill. And apart from allowing a few Munster line breaks in the first half on Saturday, which they somehow got back to cover off, they were again able to mount a towering defensive effort that frustrated the favourites to such an extent that you knew well before the finish they were never going to score a try.

Leinster deserved every one of their 19 points winning margin on a pulsating occasion that will forever be remembered by the record club crowd of 82,208 who crammed into Croke Park. A clearly devastated Munster captain Paul O’Connell admitted Leinster “dominated us in every facet of the play”. And while Leinster coach Michael Cheika qualified that – “maybe not in the lineout” – the under-pressure Aussie had every reason to glow about the “wonderful spectacle” and his team’s fantastic commitment and magnificent defence.

There were just some of the reasons why Leinster put the ladyboys tag to rest and sent their supporters – who probably numbered no more than 35% of the crowd – home deliriously happy. Molly Malone got murdered a million and a half times around the capital city on Saturday night and yesterday happily came out for more.

One warning note, though. Could Leinster be in danger of regarding this as their final? It would be only human nature if they were to fall into the trap given how much this result clearly and understandably meant to them. In truth, though, history would be harsh on Cheika’s team if they were to allow themselves to settle for this and this alone and certainly a great win would be tarnished if they didn’t finish off the job at Murrayfield on May 23.

FOR NOW, though, they are well entitled to bask in a job very well done, both as a team and individually. Indeed, they pulled it off in spite of losing Felipe Contepomi with what looked like a serious knee injury after 25 minutes at a stage when he had popped over a fine drop goal and was beginning to perform with authority and with few signs of his oft-exposed mental fragility. Indeed, the way the Puma charged straight at Ronan O’Gara and bowled his great rival over in the very first play of the game was an early indication of his and his team’s intent.

Injury meant Contepomi had to give way to Jonathan Sexton who added to his growing reputation with an assured 55 minutes. His first touch was a relatively easy penalty but, in the circumstances, it was missable. He knocked it over and the auguries were good for the young man whose roots, ironically enough, are firmly planted in Listowel. Not only that but the three points came in the middle of the 10-minute spell with Cian Healy in the sin bid, a period of play Leinster won by 3-0. What a massive psychological blow for the boys in blue.

I asked three key members of the Munster camp, captain Paul O’Connell, coach Tony McGahan and out-half Ronan O’Gara, if their distinctly below par, error-ridden performance might in any way have been caused by a slight touch of over confidence.

“The team that loses gets labelled as the one that wanted it less,” argued the captain. “They were massively up for it but I didn’t see any sign of complacency in our camp and it would have been something I and all of us would have been very wary of.”

McGahan went down the same road, claiming that “we came in today in excellent frame of mind ready for a big result.”

O’Gara also dismissed the notion, accepting that the “team in blue were far superior. Teams like Manchester United have off-days. Today, Munster had an off-day.”

Who am I to argue with such luminaries but it did look as if Leinster gained a grip on the game largely because they wanted it so badly. They were ferocious and yet disciplined (except for silly offences by Cian Healy and the otherwise outstanding Rocky Elsom that earned Munster their six points) and when push came to shove it was Munster who didn’t seem to know where to go next.

Forced to chase the game from an early stage and rocked by superb tries 10 minutes before half time by Gordon D’Arcy and immediately after the break by Luke Fitzgerald, indecision of a kind we have very rarely seen in the past crept into their play. Tackles were missed, passes dropped, thrown forward or intercepted, tactical kicking was all over the place.

Should this be attributable simply to a Munster off-day or the pressure they were put under by Leinster? A bit of both, for McGahan was clearly appalled by the number of unforced errors just as he was impressed by the Leinster defence and the way they attacked off the platforms they had themselves created.

Isa Nacewa (who fully justified his inclusion), Brian O’Driscoll, Luke Fitzgerald, Felipe Contepomi and Jonathan Sexton, the much maligned Chris Whitaker who didn’t put a foot wrong at number nine, Leo Cullen and Rocky Elsom were outstanding for Leinster, I can give credit marks on the Munster side only to Jerry Flannery, who tried his heart out to considerable effect, and to a lesser extent O’Connell and Doug Howlett.

The others struggled. Several are fortunate that the selection of the Lions squad wasn’t delayed until after Saturday. But am I going to dance on the grave of this team or, like others, write off the careers of three or four players? Of course not. Munster haven’t become a bad side overnight, it’s just that they met their match and a bit more on Saturday.

And now it behoves everyone who wore red in Croker to get behind the boys in blue at Murrayfield two weeks next Saturday.